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| Chigodi Ceiling |
On
Thursday morning it was off to Chigodi to replace the ceiling in the
rooms where our women would be staying. The existing ceiling was made
of Canite and was water stained and falling down. It was soon obvious
that we would have to fix the roof as well as all the Iron was coming
off the batons and thus the cause of the water stains. We used
plywood to redo the ceilings in the 2 rooms one rectangular and the
other round. The round room was a challenge but we got there in the
end. Doug also took the opportunity to install a Network printer,
that had been sent in the container, in the Office. We spent Thursday
Friday and Saturday at Chigodi and were happy with the result.
Our first
full week began on Monday with a car problem, and as usual we were
delayed getting to the work place, but only by a few hours this time.
We accept this now as it is part of life in Malawi. When we were
picked up, Alfred, one of the Synod carpenters, had blankets with him
and we asked him would we need blankets as well. He said, Oh yes! We
set off wondering what was in store for us. A few kms later we were
on a dirt track going through areas of very basic village life and we
had visions of sleeping on the floor with no blankets. After 40kms of
bushbashing we arrived at Nkula, the site of Malawi’s first hydro
power station. We found the worksite which is the congregation of
Mfungo which means smell in Chichewa, as when the congregation first
met they gathered under the Mfungo tree. The tree emits an odour thus
the name.
The church
is similar to the other churches we have roofed in that it is in the
shape of a cross. With so much help from the locals and all the tools
from the container, we have managed to get all the trusses made and
in place and we are hoping to level the batons and lay the iron in
the next few days and be finished by Wednesday before we start the
next church which is a smaller building and just a straight roof line
with no wings.
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| Mufungo Roof |
We thank
God constantly for the people who sent tools in the container as it
makes our job so much easier. We are also still using the dropsaw,
generator and nail gun that Reservoir donated in 2010. The locals are
amazed with the tools that we have for all the various tasks, which
now includes a hammer drill to go through the brick work as they tie
the trusses down with wire here.
The people
have been so kind to us. We were so relieved to arrive at our
accomodation with us having a single bed each in a house and lovely
Christian people caring for us. Our meals have been great including a
welcome dinner on Monday night which was a very formal affair similar
to what the team received when we arrived in Malawi. Our hosts are
Edwin and Carol and they have 2 children Robert 12 and Favoured (girl
about 3yrs). On
Wednesday night we were privileged to go to their bible study meeting
which was conducted in Chichewa in a private home. You can just see
their faith shining through in their worship. We then
were invited to another family’s home for tea where we had Chambo
(the local fish from Lake Malawi) and a enjoyable social evening.
Already we
have 2 dinner invitations for next week. The people are so loving and
friendly. The men work together very well and have a lot of fun and
we look forward to next week.. They are so thankful for the the
Austraians who have donated (Scots Church Melbourne) the money to
allow them to roof their Church
Edwin our
host works at the Power Station and took us for a tour after work one
day and also took us looking for crocs and Hippos down at his veggie
garden on the river bank but we didn’t see any.
Doug & Steve
So why were you given blankets? Were they for use on your beds?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you will get to see crocs and hippos.
Great to hear about the wonderful work you are doing.
Blessings. Evelyn